Plug cutter



W. l. STEARNS June 5, 1956 PLUG CUTTER I Filed Oct. 19, 1953 INVENTOR. Wfi/d i' f. J Mw BY Q United States Patent 2,748,817 PLUG CUTTER Walter I. Stearns, Arlington, Vt. Application October 19, 1953, Serial No. 386,694 1 Claim. (Cl. 145-120) This invention relates to tools for working on wood and the like and is directed more particularly to tools for cutting plugs.

The principal objects of the invention is the provision of a plug forming tool which is constructed and arranged for high speed rotation and adapted to form plugs which are straight and smooth.

As special features of the invention, the tool is suitably guided in its rotation and chips are readily eliminated thereby to produce smooth well-formed plugs of uniform diameter.

The above cited objects are accomplished by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts thereof,

as will fully appear by a perusal of the description below and by various specific features which will be hereinafter set forth. To these above and other objects of my invention as will become more readily apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction in a mode of operation and in the combination organization and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more particularly pointed out in the claims hereunto annexed and more fully described and referred to in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. l is a side elevational View of a plug cutting tool embodying the novel features of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevational view through a block of wood with the tool of the invention shown in section; and

Figs. 3 and 4 are top and inverted plan views of the tool shown in Fig. 1.

It will be understood that changes and alterations are contemplated and may be made in these exemplifying drawings and mechanical structures, within the scope of the claims, without departing from the principles of the invention.

In the following description and claims, various details will be identified by specific names for convenience. These names, however, are intended to be as generic in their application as the art will permit.

Referring now to the drawing more in detail, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures and referring more particularly to the preferred form of my invention selected for illustrative purposes, I have shown a plug forming tool which includes a body 2 and a shank 4 extending therefrom. The shank is adapted for gripping by a chuck or the like for rotating the tool.

The body is provided with an upwardly extending bore 6 so as to provide a peripheral wall 10.

A portion of the wall 10 is removed at one side of the body so as to provide a slot 12 extending longitudinally of the body.

The tool in use will be rotated in a clockwise direction and one side 14 of the slot extends upwardly from the lower edge of the tool and rearwardly. That is, the slot in the peripheral wall is such that said edge or side 14 thereof extends angularly relative to the longitudinal axis of the tool.

The lower edge of the peripheral wall is tapering or converges downwardly and inwardly as indicated at 16 and functions to steady and hold the tool on its true axis of rotation when rotating in the wood.

Fatented June 5, 1956 ice A cutting edge 18 is provided at the lower end of the side 14 of the slot which operates to cut the wood as the tool is rotated therein.

With the tool in rotation the cutting edge 13 cuts an annular groove which, as the tool enters the wood, produces a plug which extends upwardly into the bore of the tool.

A block of wood 20 is shown in Fig. 2, the tool having entered the block so that the plug 22 being formed enters the bore 12 of the tool.

The tool may be of any desired length and the material from which plugs are formed may be of any desired thickness, the view of Fig. 2 being merely for descriptive purposes.

As the tool rotates in the wood, the lower edge 16 of the tool steadies the tool and functions to hold it on its true axis of rotation. As the edge cuts the wood, the chips are directed upwardly in the slot 12 by the upwardly and rearwardly inclining side 14 of the slot 12.

The slot 12 will preferably be in the neighborhood of eighty degrees in transverse width whereby there is substantial wall for embracing the plug being formed so as to steady the tool in its rotationv The outside diameter of the tool at its upper end is only slightly less than that at the lower end and the inside diameter of the bore at the lower end of the tool is very slightly larger than at the upper end thereof which with the steadying characteristics of the tool contributes in the rapid production of extremely smooth plugs of predetermined uniform diameter.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essential characteristics thereof. Hence, the present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects merely as being illustrative and not as being restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claim rather than by the foregoing description, and all modifications and variations as fall Within the meaning and purview and range of equivalency of the appended claim are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What it is desired to claim and secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A rotatable tool for cutting plugs from wood comprising in combination, an elongated cylindrical body provided with a shank integral therewith extending upwardly from the upper end thereof and having a bore extending upwardly therein from the lower end thereof and terminating downwardly from the upper end thereof providing an upper wall and a vertical elongated annular side wall having an annular lower edge, said body provided with a vertical elongated slot through said annular side wall having circumferentially spaced straight forward and rear longitudinal edges extending upwardly from said lower edge, said forward edge declining rearwardly from lower to upper end relative to the direction of rotation of said tool and a vertical plane extending through the axis of rotation of said tool, and the opposite edge being substantially parallel to the axis of said tool, the said lower annular edge of the side wall extending outwardly and upwardly from the inner side thereof and cooperating with the forward edge of the slot at its lower edge to provide a cutting edge, and outer sides of said annular wall being slightly diverging upwardly from said lower edge.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 17,395 Saladee May 26, 1857 476,312 Resche June 7, 1892 1,494,897 Freye May 20, 1924 2,027,139 Abramson et a1. Jan. 7, 1936 

